What I found most interesting in the book would be the whole chapter on intercultural communications. I think this is because I am from another country and have played on a water polo team with guys from all around the world, i was able to relate to this section the most. We had a very diverse team where we all had certain stereotypes of one another, but they always ended up to be wrong. I watched and experienced anxiety from being away from home and the norms I was used to. Within the chapter I enjoyed reading the section on Ethnocentrism. I witnessed this concept time and time again. Being on a team, the guys are very proud of their countries and occasionally made their culture and country appear to be superior to others. This happened a lot with the guys from countries in Europe thinking they were better than the American guys. We all got a long great, but being together all the time and training, we did tend to get on each others nerves and that is usually when they thought they were superior. '
The other section I found interesting was the one on interpersonal communication. The journal we wrote about a fight between someone close to us really helped to see how we act. I had my girlfriend sit down with me and read the section and the journal I wrote so she could also see how we act during a fight with a fresh view.
I loved your insight! Though not from another country, I have been lucky enough to do extensive traveling, and couldn’t agree with you more on the topic of intercultural communication. Often the language barrier is not the biggest obstacle when people of different cultures communicate. We bring with us the baggage that we’ve accumulated over our years growing within our own culture and thus become the sum total of those experiences. Not that we can blame our culture, or should we bash it, but for me, the object is to understand. While living in Peru and Spain I had to adapt many of my own “American” notions to be able to appreciate the way in which the Peruvian and Spanish interpreted my actions. For this reason, I too am very interested in intercultural communication and how a better understanding of it can lead to increased beneficial communication when cultural boundaries are crossed.
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I really enjoyed your post on intercultural communications. I like how you used yourself as an example, and I think that it takes a lot to be away from home and have to experience different customs and traditions that you are used to. Although I am sure it is hard, I think that it is really cool that you are able to experience other parts of the world and be able to be around different people. I think that having to interact with people from a different upbringing gives you the opportunity to experience different cultures, traditions, values and beliefs other than your own and realize who you can get along with and who you cant. Great job! =)
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